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Costis
}}Costis Ormentiedes is an Attolian soldier currently stationed in Roa. He is a major character in The King of Attolia ''and ''Thick as Thieves. Story Early Life Costis comes from Ortia, where his family owns a small farm in the Gede Valley above Pomea. After Costis's father got into an argument with the head of the family about a dam on the property, he moved out of the main house and into a smaller residence. Costis grew up there with his sister Thalia, away from his cousins. Since Costis was not in line to inherit the family's farm, he hoped to receive land in exchange for military service. He was a year younger than the age limit when he was recruited, since Teleus made an exception due to Costis's skill. As a trainee, Costis and his friends joined the cult of Miras. After a year of training, Costis was selected for the Queen's Guard. He was promoted to squad leader after performing well at the Battle of Thegmis. The King of Attolia After Eugenides married the queen of Attolia, Costis held with the majority opinion in Attolia that their new king was a barbarian who had forced the queen to marry him. Around two months after the wedding, the king intentionally provoked Costis while speaking with Teleus about training with the Guard. In a fit of uncharacteristic rage, Costis punched the king in the face. Costis was immediately arrested and taken back to his room. Several hours later, the king came to speak with him. The king gave him several cups of unwatered wine and asked casually about Costis's family and their farm before interrogating him about the incident. Costis, under the influence of the wine, freely admitted to his hatred of the king. The queen arrived shortly afterwards. Although she wanted to execute Costis, the king instead proposed that they spare his life in exchange for Teleus's good behavior. Teleus was prepared to reject the bargain, but the queen ordered him to accept it. The queen then suggested that Costis should serve as the king's sparring partner while he trained with the Guard. The next day, Teleus stripped Costis of his rank of squad leader and offered him the opportunity to leave the Guard. Costis chose to stay. Teleus then offered anyone in the Guard the opportunity to leave, and ordered them to stand outside at attention for a full day while they considered the offer. None chose to leave. Costis began sword training with the king the following morning. Much to Costis's surprise, they practiced only the first exercises in prime. Afterwards, the king gave Costis a new assignment, and had him promoted to lieutenant-at-large. Although Teleus believed that the sudden promotion was intended to make a mockery of the Guard, he was determined to treat Costis as a proper lieutenant, with all the regular duties of one, and had Costis moved into the lieutenant's quarters. For the next several weeks, Costis trained with the king in the morning and then accompanied him to his meetings, lessons, and afternoon court. During this time, Costis assumed that his new assignment was punishment, and that the king was trying to torment him. From time to time, he received anonymous packages in his rooms containing helpful notes on the king's lessons, which he assumed were sent by Sejanus, one of the king's attendants who was constantly orchestrating pranks on the king. In actuality, they were being sent by the king himself. Although Costis originally loathed the king, he began to sympathize with him over time, particularly after he realized that Eugenides was suffering from homesickness. He eventually became one of the king's earliest supporters. However, Costis's closeness to the king also made him a target. Eugenides, realizing that he had put Costis into a difficult situation, dismissed him from his new post. A few weeks later, Costis was nearby when the dogs were released into the hunting court, ostensibly as part of another prank on the king. But when Costis learned that the king was not scheduled to pass through the hunting court that afternoon, he realized that the dogs had actually been released in order to distract the king's guards. He raced back to the king, but arrived just barely too late and watched helplessly as Eugenides fought off his would-be assassins single-handedly. Costis then helped an injured Eugenides back to his rooms. While the king was recovering, Costis was again ordered to accompany him. In order to protect Costis, the king dismissed him again as soon as he was well, but there were several attempts on Costis's life nonetheless. Although Costis was unaware of it, the king assigned two men to keep an eye on him. At this time, a rumor also began going around that Costis and Teleus had been the ones to fight off the king's assassins, and that they were lying about what really happened on the orders of the king. Some time later, Costis's friend Aris and the king's attedants asked for Costis's help convincing the king to stop climbing the palace walls while drunk. Costis attempted to talk the king into climbing down off the wall, but was unsuccessful. The king ended up falling over the edge, but was saved by the intervention of the gods, stunning Costis. Costis then requested that the king come to sword practice with him the next morning. Costis explained that the other guardsmen believed that he was lying about the attempted assassination, and forced the king to fight a true match against him. With Eugenides's swordsmanship abilities revealed, he finally earned the respect and loyalty of the Guard, much to Costis's delight. Costis pledged to serve the king and his god, and the king cryptically mentioned a new assignment that he had for Costis in the Mede Empire. Thick as Thieves spoilers Costis is sent by the king of Attolia to steal Kamet, the slave-secretary of Nahuseresh, nephew to the Mede emperor and brother to the emperor's heir. He is known only as 'The Attolian' for most of the book until the end. Costis demonstrates immense skill in swordfighting, as he is able to fend off multiple of the Mede Empire's most highly trained assassin-guard-soldiers, and responds to Kamet's questioning by stating that he practiced with his king a lot, one of the first clues as to who is really is.Where? At the end of the story Costis is shown to be off adventuring with Kamet, having become friends over the course of the book. References Category:Characters Category:People Category:Attolia